Miyamura wrestlers brings home top prizes
By Molly Ann Howell
Managing Editor
The Miyamura High School and entire Gallup-McKinley area welcomed two state wrestling champions home after the state competition, which took place over the Feb. 20 weekend.
Senior Gage Sellers won the title for the boys 138 pound weight class, and junior Alexis Morales won it for the 125 pound girls class.
In a Feb. 25 interview with the Sun, Morales said her win still didn’t feel real to her.
“It’s been really nice coming back home as a state champ because everyone’s seen it online and everyone tells you that you did such a good job,” she said. “It’s a really big accomplishment, and it feels really nice right now.”
Morales began wrestling in eighth grade, when a high school senior reached out to her dad and tried to recruit her. She went to the wrestling room one day, and decided to keep up with it. She said her favorite part about wrestling is the friendships she’s made with the other girls on Miyamura’s team.
She said the hardest part of the sport is staying consistent and trying to put in her best effort every day.
“I definitely struggle with consistency, because it’s a sport where you have to try every day,” she said “You can’t just show up and say ‘I don’t want to try today,’ because you’re working with someone else, and if you don’t work, you’re making both of you worse in a sense.”
Gage had a slightly different entry point into the sport than Morales.
With his dad Nate Sellers as the coach, Gage grew up in the Miyamura wrestling room. When his mom had to go to work, young Gage hung out in the wrestling room with his dad and the older high schoolers. He said the experience created a sense of brotherhood and family for him at a young age.
“It gave me something to look forward to and look up to,” he said of the experience. “I was like ‘I want to be like them one day.’”
Gage joined the wrestling team when he was in eighth grade. That same year, his older brother Rhys won the state championship for the boys 120 pound class. Gage said seeing that at a young age motivated him to continue his wrestling career.
“When my brother won his state championship, I was like ‘Oh, I need to get one done now, I can’t be the oddball out,’” he said.
Nate said he couldn’t be prouder of his sons.
“It’s been an amazing adventure coaching both my sons and having them win state championships under my banner,” he said. “As a father and a coach, it’s just a highlight of my life and my career as the wrestling coach. There’s validation in knowing that we did everything right for them to be successful.”
Now that his youngest son is set to graduate this year, Nate said it’s time to hang up his hat as the head wrestling coach.
He will transition to an assistant role for the 2026-2027 season, and his current assistant coach Jeremiah Salaz will step into the head coach position. Salaz has coached alongside Nate for the past six years. He returned to Miyamura after college. Nate coached him in 2015 and 2016.
ENTIRE WRESTLING TEAM SHOWS UP AT CHAMPIONSHIP
Gage and Morales weren’t the only Patriots who made it to the podium at the state championship this year.
Three boys placed in the tournament, along with five girls.
Austin Lopez, who won a state championship title last year, placed second in the 126 pound weight class. Benjamin Vidales placed sixth in the 150 pound class, and Taye Silversmith placed fifth in the 285 pound class.
Amber Gutierrez placed fifth in the 100 pound girls class, Kiera Soto placed sixth in the 105 pound class, Emmy Lopez placed fifth in the 110 pound class, Shundean Halkin placed second in the 155 pound class, and Veronica Rodriguez placed third in the 170 pound class.
The girls team also walked away with third place.
During wrestling tournaments, teams are scored by accumulating points from individual matches, with higher points awarded for greater margins of victory.
Nate gave his girls’ team high praise after their win, noting that the girls division only has one class (4A) so Miyamura competed with teams from all over the state, many of them much larger than them.
“For them to capture that third place title from little ol’ Gallup is definitely a monumental feeling,” Nate said. “The girls have always had success at our school. They’ve just got a little bit more grit than those schools around us. Watching Lexi Morales win a state championship and the rest of the girls placing very very high to help capture that third place was just amazing to watch.”
